thepolkapunk (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} thepolkapunk) wrote,@ 2005-01-28 21:59:00 |
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Services Review: Blockbuster Online Unlimited DVD Rentals
Blockbuster Online Unlimited DVD Rentals
After eyeing the success of Netflix, Blockbuster decided to take their business beyond their stores and throw their hat into home delivery DVD rentals. I subscribed to their service for two months and two weeks and walked away impressed with some aspects, but disappointed with others. Whether or not Blockbuster Online Unlimited DVD Rentals works for you mainly will depend on what kind of DVD viewer you are.
The Blockbuster Online Unlimited DVD Rentals plan lets you rent DVD’s without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. After signing up, you can choose which DVD’s you wish to rent. Blockbuster will then ship the three DVD’s that are highest on your list that are in stock, purportedly in one to three business days. Once you’ve finished with a DVD, you mail it back to Blockbuster with the included mailer. Once blockbuster receives back a DVD, it is crossed off your list and they ship you the next highest one on your list that is available. The first two weeks of membership are a free trial, after which you begin getting charged the monthly fee, which is currently $14.99 a month. You can cancel at anytime, but you will not receive a refund for any days left in the month you cancel.
I don’t believe I completely understood the significance of this program when I first signed up for it. I peeked around the Blockbuster site and added a handful of DVD’s to my list. A few hours later, it suddenly dawned on me how many movies and TV shows I had just been given access to. I jumped back onto the Blockbuster site, and probably spent several hours scouring their rentals for all the movies and TV showss I had wanted to see throughout my life but never got around to viewing. I was amazed at how many DVD’s Blockbuster had there. I am an avid movie fan, and watch everything from action blockbusters to low-budget foreign indie films. Only one of the DVD’s that I searched for was not in their library, and it was a foreign films. My top two choices were out of stock at first, but Blockbuster sent me number three through five on my list. Two of the DVD’s arrived two business days later, the third came after one more day passed. It took about two days for my return DVD’s to make their way to Blockbuster’s warehouse, after which time they sent me my next choices.
The first month and two weeks of my subscription was a blast. Everything was delivered posthaste, and I gorged myself on more movies than was probably healthy for my sanity. Although a fair number of the DVD’s I wanted were out of stock, I always got at least one of my top five choices. Upon entering the next month of my subscription, things changed. Netflix cut their price, and to keep up, Blockbuster lowered theirs as well. With this decreased price, however, came a noticeable drop in service. DVD’s began arriving 4-5 business days after Blockbuster received my old ones. There was even a time when Blockbuster logged one of my DVD’s as having been returned, but then did not send a new one out for two more business days. One DVD took two weeks to get to my door, but I suspect that was caused by issues with the post office, not Blockbuster. One of the DVD’s sent to me was the incorrect one, but it turned out that I had it on my list anyway, so it wasn’t that big of an issue.
I also began finding that more and more off my top choice DVD’s were out of stock, but this could just have been random luck. At one point, the top available DVD on my list was number 16. After one more month passed I decided to cancel my subscription.
Whether or not you will enjoy Blockbuster’s Online Unlimited DVD Rental service will ultimately depend on what kind of movie viewer you are. If you can watch a few movies a week without any problem, you will quickly get fed up with Blockbuster’s slow delivery. If, however, you are only a casual movie viewer, watching one or two a weekend, this system may be just for you. It’s a nice alternative to having to tromp down to your local video store, it completely eliminates late fees, and assuming you rent enough movies a month, you can end up saving money over traditional video rentals. I therefore give Blockbuster Online Unlimited DVD Rentals a Pass for the die-hard movie fans, but advise the more casual movie viewer to Give it a try.
Blockbuster Online Unlimited Movie Rentals gets 42 thumbs up.
Blockbuster Online Unlimited DVD Rentals
After eyeing the success of Netflix, Blockbuster decided to take their business beyond their stores and throw their hat into home delivery DVD rentals. I subscribed to their service for two months and two weeks and walked away impressed with some aspects, but disappointed with others. Whether or not Blockbuster Online Unlimited DVD Rentals works for you mainly will depend on what kind of DVD viewer you are.
The Blockbuster Online Unlimited DVD Rentals plan lets you rent DVD’s without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. After signing up, you can choose which DVD’s you wish to rent. Blockbuster will then ship the three DVD’s that are highest on your list that are in stock, purportedly in one to three business days. Once you’ve finished with a DVD, you mail it back to Blockbuster with the included mailer. Once blockbuster receives back a DVD, it is crossed off your list and they ship you the next highest one on your list that is available. The first two weeks of membership are a free trial, after which you begin getting charged the monthly fee, which is currently $14.99 a month. You can cancel at anytime, but you will not receive a refund for any days left in the month you cancel.
I don’t believe I completely understood the significance of this program when I first signed up for it. I peeked around the Blockbuster site and added a handful of DVD’s to my list. A few hours later, it suddenly dawned on me how many movies and TV shows I had just been given access to. I jumped back onto the Blockbuster site, and probably spent several hours scouring their rentals for all the movies and TV showss I had wanted to see throughout my life but never got around to viewing. I was amazed at how many DVD’s Blockbuster had there. I am an avid movie fan, and watch everything from action blockbusters to low-budget foreign indie films. Only one of the DVD’s that I searched for was not in their library, and it was a foreign films. My top two choices were out of stock at first, but Blockbuster sent me number three through five on my list. Two of the DVD’s arrived two business days later, the third came after one more day passed. It took about two days for my return DVD’s to make their way to Blockbuster’s warehouse, after which time they sent me my next choices.
The first month and two weeks of my subscription was a blast. Everything was delivered posthaste, and I gorged myself on more movies than was probably healthy for my sanity. Although a fair number of the DVD’s I wanted were out of stock, I always got at least one of my top five choices. Upon entering the next month of my subscription, things changed. Netflix cut their price, and to keep up, Blockbuster lowered theirs as well. With this decreased price, however, came a noticeable drop in service. DVD’s began arriving 4-5 business days after Blockbuster received my old ones. There was even a time when Blockbuster logged one of my DVD’s as having been returned, but then did not send a new one out for two more business days. One DVD took two weeks to get to my door, but I suspect that was caused by issues with the post office, not Blockbuster. One of the DVD’s sent to me was the incorrect one, but it turned out that I had it on my list anyway, so it wasn’t that big of an issue.
I also began finding that more and more off my top choice DVD’s were out of stock, but this could just have been random luck. At one point, the top available DVD on my list was number 16. After one more month passed I decided to cancel my subscription.
Whether or not you will enjoy Blockbuster’s Online Unlimited DVD Rental service will ultimately depend on what kind of movie viewer you are. If you can watch a few movies a week without any problem, you will quickly get fed up with Blockbuster’s slow delivery. If, however, you are only a casual movie viewer, watching one or two a weekend, this system may be just for you. It’s a nice alternative to having to tromp down to your local video store, it completely eliminates late fees, and assuming you rent enough movies a month, you can end up saving money over traditional video rentals. I therefore give Blockbuster Online Unlimited DVD Rentals a Pass for the die-hard movie fans, but advise the more casual movie viewer to Give it a try.
Blockbuster Online Unlimited Movie Rentals gets 42 thumbs up.
